Malema’s opponents accuse him of being a "mini Mugabe" with a dangerous vision for South Africa that includes a plan to nationalise the country’s mines.

But his superstar status is down to a sharp mind, a sharper tongue and a powerful message which resonates with many young, black South Africans: twenty years after the end of apartheid, democracy hasn't delivered for them.

South African president Jacob Zuma. Credit: Reuters

He has become an outlet for the frustration of much of South Africa’s youth - anger which might explain why only one-third of adults born after 1994 have bothered to register to vote.

The disillusionment of the ‘born free’ generation in a country where the potential of politics is well known reflects badly on twenty years of democracy.

As an example, he cites the revelation that Zuma spent £14 million of public money upgrading his private home.

Supporters of Julius Malema's Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party cheer at the Tembisa township, east of Johannesburg. Credit: Reuters/Mike Hutchings

But is Malema’s gloomy assessment of South Africa correct? The country is certainly richer and safer than it was at the birth of democracy. But it remains a society blighted by inequality - both racial and economic.

And its education system was found to be the 146th best of the 148 countries included in a survey by the World Economic Forum.